Projectile and method of firing the same.



R. POMPILI. PR OJEOTILE AND METHOD 0} FIRING THE SAME. APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 13, 1908.

1,045,075. w 9 Patented Nov. 19, 1912.. I

mccanbo POMPILI, or vILnmo Specification of saws,

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that L-Rrooanoo POMPILI, a siibjectof the King of Italy, and resident of 'Viljlino Arnaldi, Tivoli, in the Province of" Rome and Kingdom of Italy, have invented a Projectile and Method of Firing I the Same, of which the following is a specification. a general practice ordinance projectiles hitherto have been shot off by placing them in" the interior of a. gun barrel, and by igniting behind them and in closed chambers explosive charges, in order to displace the projectiles along the barrel, in the direction of their The continuous increase of the' weight of the projectiles and of the distance to. which they have to be fired have at. caused also .an increase of the length of ,the barrel and of its thickness, so that the weightv of the piece of ordnance is enormously augniented, the more so as additional devices have to be made use of for din'iinishing and 4; braking the recoil. The present invention has for its object to do away with the cumbersome and heavy gun barrel by utilizing the combined action of 'the high explosives, and of the resistance orinertiaof the air. It is well known that theair opposes a resistance to moving bodies which increases more rapidly than their slpeed, This resistance becomes enormous when a large body of air must be displaced instantanconsly, as it happens in consequence of the deflagration of a chargev of high explosive, which-during the combustion rovolumeof gases about 10,000 times greater thanthat of the unburnt charge. In suchQcasc the air opposes-to the displacement, a resistance almost like to that of at solid .body and therefore a projectile canibe shot ofi' by simply causing to explode behind it, a su'itablyapplied charge of high explosive. It will be understood that the gases developed will at the same tune tend .qto displaccthe mass of surrounding a r and "push -.agai 1 1st the base of the pro ect le, which, through the conformation of its head meeting with little ,resistancein thealr, is thrust violently forward. As the charge dur z'ig tl'ieexplosion acts in the direction-of the axis ol. the projectile, by resting the latter upon a suitable guide" or suppor it can be thrown in any direction desired as is the case with the ordinary guns. This way of firing shells can be usefully employed carriages which would be lost.

in many circumstances in which discarding.

FFICE.

ABNALDI, TIVOLI, ITALY.

I PRoJEcTILn AND METHOD OF FIRING THE SAM j Y;

Letters Patent. Patented Nov. 19, 1912.

Application filed June 13, 1908. Serial No. 438,293.

the piece of ordnance obviates many practical difiiculties and in some casesit is the only course which can be practically adopted. For instance on bad grounds in high 0 mountains it enables the artillery to'reach places which could not be approached up till now; in the operations of siege it avoids many of the difficulties of transporting-the I heavy guns and in any case it allows of the locality being quickly abandoned without leaving behind the heavy pieces and gun- Still more important is the use of this method on board of dirigible air ships in which it is im-- practicable to carry pieces of ordnance. And it is not only useful for fighting against other dirigible air ships, viz., for firing projectiles in horizontal directions, but also for firing projectiles downward,when, it is not possible or convenient to cause the airship to reach the height necessary for giving to the projectile the required velocity,-or when it is desired to reach a greater velocity than that which the projectile would naturally so attain when falling under thecolubined action of its weight and the resistance of the air. This increase of velocity of the falling projectiles will become indispensablewhenit will be necessary to fire downward real 35 projectiles capable of piercing through and destroying horizontally disposed armor plates which will beerected as protection against attacks from above. Lastly this method for firing projectiles can also be usefully applied for throwing safety ropes to stranded ships and in other similar ,cases.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the invention can be advantageously applied in many different cases; and there are also many different ways in which the same can be carried outand, therefore the illustrations of. the annexed drawings are-given onlyby way of example and dotnot showall the possible forms ofexecution. f j j Figures 1 and 2 show a side and rear end view of an apparat-us'of this l(ind l igs. 3 and 4 different ways in which the'projectile' may be supported, 'Figs. 5, 6, and 7 aredetails of a particular form of supportjforthe projectile. v

Behind the projectile 1 which has the sha e of common projectiles, is the charge oft 1e high explosive ,--2- screwed on or fixed in any other way to the base ofthevpro- '1 10 1 jectile; the charge is" provided with a fuse '--3- disposed on the rearsfree surface of On the surface of the projectile two sights l are applied and further its surface is either provided with helical grooves 5 or with projecting ribs of the same shape, the aim of which is to cause the projectile to revolve.

In the way of carrying out the inventionshown in Figs. 1 and 2 the projectile is supported by a trestle having four legs 6 in which the position of the legs is regulated by means of a double span-screw 7. Two rings 8 mounted above the head of the trestle carry the supports -9 in which the projectile is resting. Upon a cross-piece 10- which joins together the rings 8 are two sights --1l which serve for sighting in case outer sights are not disposed on the projectile itself.

In the example shown in Fig. 3 the projectile -lis seen suspended by means of ropes 19- from a trestle .18 of somewhat difierent construction. The projectile is provided with lateral pivots -14 which engage in hooks 15- disposed in such a way as to allow of the free departure of the projectile at the moment of the explosion of the charge.

Lastly the form represented in Fig. 4 shows how for guiding the projectile a short barrel 16 mounted upon a gun-carriagelike support '17 can be made use of. The barrel will be rifled for conferring upon the projectile the usual rotation. It has to be borne in mind that the barrel 16 has not to resist the explosion of the charge as it takes place outside the same.

Apparatus of this kind have no recoil because the reaction is supported by the surrounding mass of air; but instead of a recoil the friction of the projectile on its supports causes at the moment of the explosion a forward pull, which is perceptible in apparatus of the kind illustrated in the Figs. 1, 2 and 4.

This shock can be prevented by adopting, hinged supports --9 as those shown in the Figs. 5, 6, 7. The cradle -l8- whereon rests the projectile forms together with the two supports 9 a parallel motion device which at the moment of the explosion is 2 shifted forward, taking the position shown by dotted lines in the Fig. 7, and is braked 4 in its motion by the spring 19 upon In the case however of projectiles fired in horizontal direction against other airships for instance, it will be convenient to throw the projectile by means of a cross bow= or any other similar device suflicient for projecting it to a distance at which the charge which impresses upon it the necessary impulse for bringing it at the mark can be safely exploded.

I claim-- 1. A method for firing a projectile with conoidal point without employing any firearms and combustion chambers, consistin in disposing the projectile with conoidzil point before its starting freely in the air, supported in any way, with its axis di rected toward the target, in freely applying against its rear face a charge of high explosive, and in bursting this charge.

2. A cartridge designed to fire a projectile with conoidal point without employing any fire-arms and combustion chambers, conrprising a projectile with conoidal point,-a charge of a high .ex-plosive freely applied against its rear face and sights fixed on the L; lateral surface of the projectile.- I

In testimony whereof I have signed my 1 name in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses. 1

RICGARDO POMPILI. Witnesses LEFFERN LABOCIETTO, A. RAzzI. 

